Letters to Home
by Ishvallan
Summary: It was such a simple idea, how had none of them thought of it? At the simple suggestion by Robin (in my Zo/Ro story- The Crow's Nest), to write a letter to Kaya to tell her how his adventure had been, he got right to work organizing a long work detailing the most important bits of his journey through the Grand Line
1. Chapter 1

The rain fell lightly in Syrup Village as Kaya and her servant, Merry, walked home from the medical clinic in town she had been studying and learning to practice medicine with. Their conversation was pleasant but of no consequence beyond their activities of the day. Upon returning to the family mansion, Merry checked their mail and found a large unexpected package. They got out out of the rain before the box could allow more moisture in than had already done, but opening it provided quite a shock.

Inside were a paper scrolled and bound with a ribbon, a stack of papers with writing which appeared to have been written hastily, and a smaller box.

Unfurling the scroll first, Kaya saw a face she did not recognize, at first dropping it in confusion because of the mask, the name, and a bounty under it for 30 million beli. She feared this was some kind of warning until she began to read the letter it came with.

Dear Kaya

I am so unbelievably sorry I have never written before. To be honest, I never even considered to do so until a member of my crew, Robin, made mention of the idea while we were talking today. So much has happened since we left home, and I don't know how much truth of our adventures has been allowed to reach people. I know you're aware of my history of embellishing the truth, but I promise you that every word I'm about to write is the truth, no matter how impossible it seems. We've seen things that I couldn't even dream up to tell you stories about, that is how amazing the Grand Line is! I will even add in my Wanted poster to prove that I have lived the life of a brave man of the sea I always dreamed of becoming.

I should tell you who has joined our crew since we started our journey. We met Sanji, our cook, not long after we left with Going Merry.

 _/Some notable scribbling and other moisture marks were on the paper after that/_

I'll talk about that later. Sanji is one of our strongest mates, I'm not sure if he's quite as strong as Zoro but it's pretty close, leagues above the rest of us but leagues behind Luffy too. I'm sure you've heard of the Pirate Admiral, Don Krieg. WE BEAT HIM! Well, LUFFY beat him. It was so scary, Kaya, one of the Shichibukai- Dracule Mihawk- had followed him from the Grand Line and cut his ship in half. Zoro fought him but almost died. It all happened so fast I couldn't even describe it to you. I left that area with Zoro and some people he knew to follow Nami- I'll talk about that soon too. Luffy somehow managed to beat the strongest man in East Blue, then caught up to us with Sanji after he joined us.

You met Nami before I left with them, the red haired girl. We ended up in Nami's village, Cocoyashi, because the whole time she had been planning to rob us. But it turns out she had been working for a bunch of Fishman pirates who had been planning to take over all of East Blue! He was making deals with the Marines so the bases never even knew he was there causing trouble. But we beat them too! I even managed to defeat one of the Fishmen all on my own with my trusty Ginga Pachinko, Usopp Hammer, and Usopp Wagumo. I think I'll send you Ginga Pachinko, I have a great new weapon, I call it Kabuto. But I'll talk about that later too since it needs some explaining. We've seen so many amazing things, I think this is going to take longer than a page.

Anyway, Luffy took out this really strong Fishman named Arlong and Nami officially joined us after that. That's when Luffy got his first bounty- 30 million, the same as I have now. That made him the most wanted man in East Blue, and now almost our whole crew is wanted for at least that- though I guess I'll get to Chopper later too, he's our doctor and tak's some explaining. Come to think of it, most of our crew takes some explaining.

We went to Loguetown where the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger was executed- by the way, that was his actual name. Robin says the World Government and the Marines changed it to Gold Roger for some reason. But Luffy says he almost died there, something about a gallows, a clown, and a bolt of lightning. With Luffy having a high bounty, this marine who can turn into smoke (devil fruits have become really common here in the Grand Line, I can't believe all these cool powers people have) came after us, and I guess he followed us on our journey because he came after us again later. But we got away and made it up the side of the Red Line through this waterfall that flows from the ocean up to the top of the peak! I don't know how it does it but I swear that it does!

When we got to the bottom, we came across a HUUUUGE whale and it ATE US. In its stomach, we came across this old guy living inside. The old guy called it an Island Whale, named Laboon. I don't remember the old guy's name but he actually sailed with the Pirate King! He at least says he was Roger's doctor on the voyage where they conquered the whole Grand Line. I don't think he was lying. But the Island whale actually has a cool story too. He was hitting himself against the mountain of the Red Line because decades ago a pirate crew brought him over the mountain when he was small, but they left him at the entrance to Grand Line and told him to wait for them to return because it was too dangerous for something so small. This part is important later, it's SO COOL! But once the old guy helped us out of Laboon and told us the story about those pirates, Luffy decided to fight the whale! I'm still mad that he broke Going Merry's mast and hit the whale with it (don't worry, I fixed it. Well at least as good as I could. I'll get to that later too). He told the whale the fight was a draw and that he wanted a rematch. He painted our Jolly Roger on the whale's head and said he can't hit his head off the mountain anymore because he can't mess up that mark until we get back. Also, we have a great symbol, a skull and crossbones wearing a Straw Hat, I painted it and everyone loved it.

We got eaten after these people, they used fake names I don't really remember, who were attacking him got in a fight with us. I don't remember much about the guy, but the girl was none other than a girl named Vivi who is a PRINCESS! She is princess of a desert island nation called Alabasta in Grand Line- and a LOT happens there. But Vivi decided we were strong enough to help her free her country from ANOTHER Shichibukai- Crocodile who had powers over sand. But before I get too far ahead, before she became our friend, she led us to an island where we were treated like heroes, but it was a trick. They were all bounty hunters. Zoro took care of all of them while we were passed out from partying. I wish I could say I did it, but I promised to tell you only the truth.

Also, the weather. Things are INSANE here. Every island has its own climate. Seasons don't happen here the same way they do in the Blues. Like Summer islands are always hot and desert like, Winter Islands like Drum- I'll get to that- are always snowing. And storms can just come out of nowhere. Things are so crazy that you can't even navigate normally, you have to have this weird compass called a Log Pose. I don't really know how it works but it points specifically to nearby islands, not North. I wish I had one to send you but it wouldn't really work outside grand line anyway. But it's a little glass ball on your wrist with a needle inside that can point any direction, even UP! And I can't wait to write about Sky Island! It feels so long ago but it's only been a few weeks.

This next part is one of my favorites because there were GIANTS! It was this big island called Little Garden where there were dinosaurs everywhere, huge lizard monsters that were supposed to be extinct like the rest of the world. And 2 giants from the giant country of Elbaf were there fighting every day, their names were Dorry and Brogy, they were at LEAST 50 feet tall. They said they'd been fighting for 100 years, so long they forgot why they were even fighting, but neither was willing to back down. Some other people from this secret organization Vivi had infiltrated, the one headed by Crocodile the Shichibukai, poisoned one of the giants and that didn't even stop him from fighting his honorable battle. I was so inspired, Kaya, I want to fight with power and honor like those giants, and I want to see their homeland and tell them that those two are still on that island fighting their battle. A lot of bad stuff happened on that island, we almost died- which we do a lot but we're still all :: 'all' was scratched out:: almost all here.

The next island was this snowy kingdom called Drum. Nami got really sick on that last island and we got really lucky that she got to a doctor in time. When we caught up to Luffy and Sanji who went ahead of us to the doctor, we found out that one of her doctors was a reindeer! An actual reindeer who ate a devil fruit that lets him be a kind of human. He can talk, he walks on two legs, it is so awesome. His name is Chopper and he's one of my best friends, you would love him. After Luffy beat up their king who was a "royal" jerk, Chopper decided to come with us too.

We FINALLY got to Alabasta and met this really great guy called Bon Clay. He could touch you and perfectly transform into your likeness, even your voice. But then we found out he was actually one of the strongest members of the organization we were helping Vivi to take down, I think it was called Broke Works but it was spelled fancy. Sanji ended up beating him in a fight. That guy took my clothes and goggles to make a disguise after me and Chopper got in a fight, you'll be so proud of me about this next part. I fought a guy called Mr. 4 who used a 4 TON bat as his weapon and Chopper faced a woman who could turn into a mole and dug a bunch of tunnels. I don't know how I survived it, and I swear it's true, Chopper will tell you so whenever we meet again. I got hit by the bat so many times but I survived. Eventually we won using Chopper's powers and my tactics. I don't really know a lot of details about everyone else's fights, but we all faced really strong people and Luffy actually beat up the Shichibukai, and I can tell you he wasn't the last one, we actually beat ANOTHER just a few days ago!

A smaller cool thing, we met Luffy's big brother in Alabasta and he's even stronger than everyone we've faced so far! His name is Ace and he's one of the COMMANDERS for the fleet of the YONKOU, WHITEBEARD! I'm sure glad he's on our side because I don't want to face anyone THAT strong quite yet. I don't even know if Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro- we call them the Monster Trio- could take down someone as strong as that while all working together.

But after Luffy beat up Crocodile, Vivi decided to stay in her homeland and be the princess they needed after everything that happened. Then we got another crew mate- Nico Robin. She was working for Crocodile but she says Luffy saved her life and wanted to join the crew so he let her. She was so scary at first but she's actually really nice and we saved her again but I'm getting ahead of myself again.

Next stop was an island called Jaya which wasn't a very great place, but we met a really cool guy named Montblanc Cricket. He is a deep sea diver who was hunting for sunken undersea treasure that his ancestor- Montblanc Norland who is well known in North Blue for being a liar talking about a city of gold- had discovered but disappeared.

This part is kind of complicated- there is a thing called a Knockup Stream which creates a VERTICAL sea current, straight up into the sky, like the opposite of a whirlpool. Cricket and his big monkey friends helped us outfit the Merry so that it could sail and sort of fly up that current because the next island was in the SKY!

When we got up there, there were people, but they had wings on their back so I'm not sure if they were really human. Also kind of important, they have these cool shells up there called Dials which can store all sorts of things- heat, sound, smells, even the force of impacts. After this adventure I used them to make my new weapon, a big slingshot I call Kabuto. We fought a bunch more strong people, including God! Luffy beat up this guy who was made of Lightning and calling himself God after he tried to kidnap Nami. We found out that the island our log pose was pointing to was actually a piece of Jaya that got blown into the sky by the Knockup Stream. That is when we found out about the Pirate King's name, there are these big blocks throughout the world in an old language, and Robin is the only person in the world who can read them- which is apparently illegal because the World Government has been after Robin since she was a child because she could do it. We even had to fight a Marine Admiral who could control ice. He was the only person we've ever lost a fight to. Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro couldn't even touch him but he beat us and let us go, I think only Robin knows why but she hasn't told us.

Before we fought that Admiral, we got in a fight with this INCREDIBLY annoying foxy looking guy, I can't remember his name. He tried to make some of our crew join him, but we beat him too. I really would rather not bother talking much about him.

Things got really sad for a while after we saved Robin from being turned to ice by that Admiral. When we came back down to the ocean, Merry was really damaged. We had a lot of money from selling gold we got on Sky Island (which had the City of Gold on it that Norland had discovered in his story), on an island called Water 7, but I got attacked and people stole the money we intended to use to fix Merry. Luffy and the others got the money back and helped heal me from being beaten up, but when we took Merry to some master shipwrights ,but they told us that it could never be repaired. I couldn't stand to leave Going Merry behind because it is the last thing I had to remember you by besides my memories. I actually left the crew and had a fight with Luffy, I lost of course, but he told me that if I was leaving the crew, I could keep Merry because they had to get a new ship.

I'm not really sure of a lot of what happened with everyone else after, because I got to work fixing MY ship. But the leader of the people who jumped me, a half human half machine named Franky- who is on our crew now and built our current ship- attacked me and brought me and Merry to a hideout trying to draw out Luffy. I told him they wouldn't come for me, and I continued working while we were there. That place used to belong to a shipwright because there were tools all over the place for fixing and building ships. But Franky, who now I know is a shipwright and not just some thug, agreed that Merry was unfixable- I had planned to finish fixing it and sail back home to be with you, but he said Merry would never make it to another island let alone back to East Blue. He started to destroy Merry and I tried to stop him, so he threw me in the water Merry was floating in and underneath I saw just how damaged it was. He was right, but I really already knew that. But I just couldn't let Merry go, because you gave it to us, it meant everything in the world to me.

Some people from the World Government, some kind of assassins who were apparently the same shipwrights who first told us that Merry would never sail again, came and kidnapped me and Franky, and they had also taken Robin. She had left the crew as well and went with them willingly so that they wouldn't kill our crew. But Luffy and the others came for her. Sanji had somehow stowed aboard the Sea Train- another really cool thing, a train that actually drives on top of the ocean- and tried to rescue her. He was only there for her, but the car she was in was ahead of the one me and Franky were chained up in. Let me and Franky loose and I couldn't face Luffy and the others, I couldn't even face Sanji then, so I put on the mask in the picture on my bounty and called myself Sogeking. I still can't believe everyone bought that disguise, but I AM an incredible liar. Once we met up with everyone, we broke into a place called Enies Lobby, where they take high profile people who have been arrested by the Marines and World Government. We told Robin that we were coming for her but she told us to leave because she thought we would abandon her like everyone else she had ever known had done. Instead of leaving, Luffy talked to her- really the scene looked so cool, us standing on the roof of one building talking to people in another building across a big gap that had the sea between us. When Robin decided that she really wanted to come with us instead of being killed, Luffy ordered 'Sogeking' to snipe out the World Government flag, declaring war on the entire world in order to get her back.

Everyone got in more big fights but I got wiped out by this man who could turn into a wolf. Sanji seems told me that there were things that I couldn't handle and the crew would take care of them, but there were also things that they couldn't handle that only I could do for them. He fought the wolf man and I went up to the roof to do what I could to help Robin. Their leader was taking her across a bridge so they could take her away on a ship, but I used my great pachinko, Kobuto- which I mentioned before, powered up with the abilities of Sky Island dials- to snipe out their troops from the top of the tower. They were so far away they couldn't even see where the shots were coming from, and their guns couldn't reach me from their position. You would have been so proud if you'd seen me.

Eventually everyone won their fights and we managed to rescue Robin and the absolute impossible happened. I forgot the details which led up to this! Its SO COOL!

When we flew up to Sky Island, we noticed Going Merry was having some problems, and one night, when the ship had been captured and was off on a pedestal a distance away from us, I heard the sound of a hammer coming from Merry. I thought someone was on board fixing it and I heard a voice say that it would try to help Merry take us a little farther. When Franky had me and Merry captured, I told him about it and he said it was a myth called the Klabautermann- a spirit of a well loved and cared for ship that takes kind of a physical form.

Back to the story where I left off, we were all about to be wiped out by a barrage from Marine war ships when we all heard a voice telling us to jump into the ocean. We all followed it and we actually landed ABOARD GOING MERRY! We found out that a famous shipbuilder the crew had met heard the same hammering while he walked past Merry who had washed ashore on his island. Merry actually asked him to help it sail again and he repaired it as well as he could. A wave came in and washed Merry out to sea and it traveled on its own all the way out to sea just in time to save us all. I don't think I've ever been so happy in my life or a bigger miracle had happened.

We got away from the island, but just as we came across a massive ship owned by the guy who fixed Merry, Merry broke in 2, the front half of the ship split and started to sink into the sea. We all abandoned ship and decided that it was finally time to let Merry go. We stood in small boats while Luffy prepared to burn it so it could rest in peace at the bottom of the ocean. Then we heard Merry, or the Klabautermann Franky mentioned. I'll never forget what it told us.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could've taken you a little further. I'm sorry, I wanted to have adventures with you forever. "

Luffy apollogized for all the damage we caused to Merry, that we should have taken better care of it. Then it said

"I was happy. Thank you for caring about me. I was really happy"

That was the last we ever heard or saw of Merry. It lies whatever is left at the bottom of the ocean, we gave it as honorable a send off as could be asked for. I'm sorry, Kaya, and to your butler Merry too, that we couldn't take better care of Going Merry. It was all our fault for not knowing how to repair it, and putting it through so much- like Luffy breaking off the entire mast like I said really early in this letter.

I might as well catch you up until now as well. Franky joined the crew and built us this amazing new ship, the Thousand Sunny. He was the student of the shipwright who built the Pirate King's ship, and he used the same kind of wood that ship was made of. Now with a proper shipwright and built of such strong material, we hope we won't lose Sunny the way we lost Merry. I don't know if we could take losing another part of our crew like that. But Franky blew us all away because he built us a small paddle boat for running errands that has the same figurehead as Merry. It's not the same, the mini Merry or the Sunny, but we promise to love them just as much as we did Merry, it's what Merry would want.

We got lost in this big fog and came across a ship the size of an island and ended up facing ANOTHER SHICHIBUKAI! Gecko Moria! He was this huge pale bat and vegetable looking guy over 20 feet tall who controlled shadows. He made these horrifying zombies by putting people's shadows into corpses making zombies. It was horrible. One of his crewmates was this girl who could create ghosts but I was actually able to resist my fear of them and managed to beat her with some fear tactics of my own.

Moria even put Luffy's shadow into this legendary dead giant monster, more than twice the size in every direction as Dory and Brogy were. Somehow we all managed to work together and we beat both the giant monster and then Luffy beat up Moria. Then once that threat was gone, ANOTHER Shichibukai showed up, Bartholomew Kuma who was even bigger than Moria. He tried to take Luffy in exchange for letting us all live, but we told him we would never give up Luffy. Then it all went black for a long time.

When we all woke up, Luffy was just fine, in much better shape than we were considering that huge fight he just had. Then he invited a musician to our crew- a skeleton- a living walking skeleton named Brook (he died and his devil fruit brought him back but all that was left was the bones, so the bones are alive now. It's so weird!) But this is one of the best parts! Remember the giant Island Whale, Laboon, from earlier in the story? Brook's crew is the crew that left him there and promised to come back over 30 years ago! So now Brook is with us and we are going to finish the other half of the Grand Line now and get back to that side of the Red Line so we can reunite them again. Of all the paths we could have taken through the Grand Line, it was the same path as Brook and his crew, the Pirate King, the fabled Montblanc Norland, and so many other incredible people. It feels like fate that we ended up on this one path, even if it was basically chosen for us in order to get Vivi back to her homeland where these heroic adventures all started.

We've come across so many of the Shichibukai, members of the crews of Yonkou, an Admiral of the Marines, and even a God and we've always come through ok. I know that as long as we stick with Luffy, nothing will ever split us apart and we will reach One Piece in no time so Luffy can be the new Pirate King. I've come so far, Kaya. I'm not just the boy who had to run from angry villagers. I have fought and beaten powerful enemies, I have faced some real horrors of this world, and I have overcome challenges of strength of character that I never could have without going to sea with Luffy and the others.

I'm sorry this letter was so long, but there has been so much to tell because I never thought to write to you before. But I'll try to write again soon. I've been writing this for days, trying to get all of the story right and I still messed up the order some. We just got to this island with awesome bubbles everywhere, we even met a mermaid! And strange enough, we've ended up befriending one of the very Fishmen who had attacked Nami's village and we faced shortly after I left home. It is so funny the way life goes out here. I wish I could hear back from you, but we have no idea where we will ever be going to have something sent anywhere. Even the News Coo can't find us sometimes. But I promise to write again much sooner than 6 months to tell you how our next adventure goes.

I miss you so much, Kaya.

/In a different and more elegant script, there was another few lines/

-These lines were written by Usopp's friend Nico Robin, because he says he hasn't the strength to write it himself-

"I love you Kaya, I promise to come home to you and ask your hand in marriage whenever we finish our journey and I am able to return home."

-0-

Kaya had been crying ever since she began reading about Merry, and hadn't stopped since. She had to pause several times to catch her breath and compose herself as she had been reading the letter to Merry as well, who was equally caught up in emotion.

She resolved to continue her studies to achieve her own dream as that man was doing the same so far away from her. She also resolved to deny any suitor that may come to her door, as far as she was concerned, she was already spoken for but for a ring and the man she loved by her side.

She wished to be able to write back to him, to tell him that all had been peaceful since they left, that she was doing well and was studying to become a doctor, and that she loved him back and would wait as long as the island whale had if it meant having him at her side again.


	2. Chapter 2

Two years. She had heard nothing for two years. She had read that letter so many times because one thing gave her hope that Usopp was still out there, still on his adventure, and still coming home- their musician Brook who had discovered still alive after 30 years after his promise to return. Many men had come seeking her hand in marriage to gain her wealth, but not a single one seeking her love. Even if they had, she had made a resolute promise to herself, she would wait for Usopp to come home to her as he promised he would. She had given up hope that it was true, but never gave up her decision that she would be with him and him alone.

Then came the day she saw the package.

Much the same way as the letter had come two years ago, but in a much larger box.

Inside was a very long green slingshot with multiple elastic connections in the head. At the bottom was a much shorter letter, but one she looked forward to for two years. All prayers and hopes against all odds had been answered.

She rushed inside and informed Merry what had come and he rushed to the sitting room to hear the message.

My dearest friend Kaya,

No words can be enough to apologize for this absence, but I know you will understand. The very same day that I sent my last letter to you, the unimaginable happened. I know that I mentioned us meeting the Shichibukai, Bartholomew Kuma, and mentioned the island I sent the letter from. We made some costly mistakes that day.

Our friend, the mermaid, Camie was kidnapped and taken to a slave auction. We went to rescue her and ended up in a very physical altercation with one of the Tenryuubito! After that, all hell broke loose.

Our friend was actually rescued by a new friend of ours, and of all of the people we have come across, this might be the biggest one, so brace yourself:

"Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh- first mate to the Pirate King Gol D. Roger.

We went with him to a safe place and it turns out that this man was the very man that the fishman we had met, the one who we had defeated at the beginning of our journey- an octopus man named Hacchan- had promised us would give our ship a special coating to allow it to travel underwater to get to the Fishman Island.

But this incident with the Tenryuubito caused a different Marine Admiral to be sent after us than we'd met before. This one was made of light and shot exploding lasers at us! He also had a lot of giant robots that looked exactly like the Shichibukai Kuma, but Kuma himself was there too.

We did our best to flee for our lives, to disappear so that Rayleigh could have time to coat our ship so we could escape the island. But Kuma stopped us. He has some ability that sent all of us flying away, one by one. I don't remember what order we disappeared in, but I doubt any of us went to the same place.

I end up on an island that was one giant carnivorous plant, populated by billions of other monstrous man eating plants. I met a warrior named Heracles, and after some very poor decisions on my part, falling into the island plant's trap, he helped me survive.

I was planning to escape the island and try to get back, to Sabaody Archipelago where we'd been sent away from. But several days had gone by on that island and somehow a News Coo got to us and I saw the thing that caused me to not contact you these two years:

Luffy had gone to the place that the Marines make their base at- Marinefold- and caused a commotion of some kind. I don't know many details as I'm still yet to meet with the rest of the crew, I can only hope we all get back safely. But he had a mark on his arm, and if you saw that paper you may have seen the same mark I did- 3D (x-ed out) 2Y. We had planned to meet up after 3 days on Sabaody when the coating should have been done. Instead he was telling us to meet back there after 2 years. 2 years and here I am and it has been a gruelling time.

That Island was one big training course for me. For these past years, Heracles took me under his "wings" (he has big bug wings by the way) and trained me to be a real warrior. I have replaced my great slingshot, Kabuto, with a much smaller and more powerful version, the Black Kabuto. As I did with my last slingshot, I will send you Kabuto as a gift to remember me by, a piece of our legacy. I have become quite muscular and handsome if I do say so myself, but unfortunately have no means of showing you. I'm sure it won't be long until we get ourselves into more trouble and get new bounties which should give you a chance to see how much I've grown up since I've left. I can't wait for everyone else to see how strong I've become, especially if they've all found ways to train as well. If the incident at Sabaody taught us anything, it's that we were nowhere near strong enough to enter the New World, the second half of the Grand Line. I hope now after all this time we finally will be.

There isn't really much more to say, I couldn't begin to describe all of the plants I have learned to use as weapons, and I don't know how to show you how strong I've become. But I believe now more than ever that I will have the strength needed to become a brave warrior like my father, and will survive the world to be able to come back to you. I won't promise a swift letter like I did last time, just in case something happens. Just know that until the day I die, I will never stop trying to become the man I want to be, and to come home to you, Kaya. I may have lacked the bravery to do so last time, but I have no fear of it now.

/The last line was incredibly shaky and hard to read, as if someone was writing it with an earthquake going through their arm./

I still love you, Kaya. Please wait for me!

Your brave man of the sea, Usopp


End file.
